Alkylfurans can be used for commercial production of fuels and other products. For example, 2,5-dimethylfuran can be used as a starting material to produce para-xylene and terephthalic acid, which may be used in the production of polyester. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,314,267.
Several methods are currently known in the art to produce alkylfurans. For example, 2,5-dimethylfuran can be synthesized by pyrolyzing acetone at a temperature above 700° C. for less than a second, and then cooling the reaction gases in a liquid medium. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,098,592. 2,5-Dimethylfuran can also be synthesized by heating hex-3-en-5-yn-2-ol to 100° C. in the presence of a mercuric catalyst. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,470,070. Additionally, 2,5-dimethylfuran can be synthesized by dehydrating fructose to 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural, and then converting the 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural to 2,5-dimethylfuran using a CuRu/C catalyst and hydrogen. See Y. Román-Leshkov, et al., Nature 2007, 447, 982-985.
There remains, however, a need for new methods to produce alkylfurans, such as 2,5-dimethylfuran.